THE RACKETS

It's a long haul, reading an entire novel aloud. It takes concentration to keep disparate characters straight, to stay attuned to the rhythms of the story, to discern the emotional temperatures at every juncture. In this performance, David Daoust demonstrates just how difficult it is for a narrator to remain focused. Though he begins adequately in this thriller about the violence and corruption swirling around the Teamsters Local in New York, as the tapes proceed, he loses his way. He drops characterizations--a shame because he demonstrates a talent for the sounds of working-class Irish Americans--and his reading becomes increasingly wooden. He has a habit of accenting odd points in a sentence, which is irritating, and fails to pause between changes of scene, which is disorienting. This is a case where an engrossing story is ill-served by its reader. M.O. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 01]